In the preparation of foods, base materials, which may account for a significant fraction of the finished food, are frequently employed. Such base materials are often prefabricated mixes (such as baking mixes, but also marzipan paste, flavor mixes etc.), which must be selected to match the individual finished food and stored in accordance with their respective properties.
Known prefabricated mixes as base materials for foods often have the following drawbacks: On the one hand, they have a limited storage life, especially after the package has been opened. This has an effect, in particular, on remainders of stock, which are not only perishable, but also attract vermin. In addition, bacteria and other microorganisms, such as Salmonella, can colonize and prosper on or in the mixture. This results in health risks.
Further, such mixtures are often sensitive towards temperature variations and are frequently tedious to handle. The tedious to handle property results from the fact that such mixes are either sticky or, when in powder form, tend to form dust and/or lumps. Therefore, the correct dosing and further processing are difficult.
Three components that can be found today in most foods are starch flour or other thickening agents, lecithin and sugar (or sugar substitutes). All these components are powdery in their pure form. Thus, if one wants to offer these components as part of a prefabricated mix, one encounters all the difficulties inherent to powder-powder mixtures. Among others, the individual components of such mixtures will segregate due to gravity, so that different mixing ratios can form within one package (for illustration: a mixture of flour and sugar). For this reason, an always equal dosage in further processing is almost impossible. In addition, powders make dust when filled and weighed.
On the other hand, if one wants to use the three components mentioned in prefabricated mixes that also contain liquid or paste-like components, the effects of gravity are to be feared in such mixes as well: upon storage, the ingredients may settle and thus segregate or form gradients. In addition, physico-chemical effects are possible in such mixtures, for example, the segregation of oils and fats and the crystallization of sugar or sugar substitutes, such as isomalt. Finally, such mixtures are often sticky and/or lumpy and therefore are difficult to dose. In addition, such mixtures, if containing crystal sugar, have a rather limited storage life.
It is just the use of starch flour or the increase of the previously achievable proportion of starch flour that is desired in many foods and food supplements. Among other reasons, starch is an important energy supplier which in addition is more digestible than merely starch-containing food components, such as cereal flour. In addition, starch does not have the allergenic potential of cereal flour.
Especially in bakery products, mainly in pastry with a fluffy paste, such as batter cake, a high starch proportion is desirable. This is because starch flours will bind the high moisture content in batters during the baking process due to their good agglutination properties. When conventional flour is used, the effect of the gluten contained in the flour must be accepted along with the desired starch properties. For this reason, flour tends to render a batter tough. This toughness can hardly be overcome by incorporating air by whipping. Therefore, part of the flour is traditionally replaced by pure starch flour in batters for fluffy pastry. Starch flour renders the crumb of the bakery products fine-pore, tender and short, but renders it dry when used in excess (Büskens, H., Backschule, ISBN 37736 2252 X, 3rd Edition, 1972, p. 173). The latter is why bakers have refrained to date from replacing the whole flour in bakery products by starch flour.
Although starch-containing sugar compositions are prepared in DE-A-4004733, this is done only under increased pressure and at elevated temperature. This requires a high expenditure in terms of machines and systems for controlling pressure and temperature, i.e., involves considerable drawbacks.
Thickening agents other than starch, for example, guar gum, also have been used to a limited extent in foods, although having numerous advantages. Thus, guar gum promotes the viscosity and softness of batters and pastries and thus renders the use of artificial additives, such as sorbitol, superfluous.
Base materials are also frequently employed in the preparation of fodders. These base materials are similar to the base materials for food preparation and must meet the same requirements as set forth above. Starch flour and other thickening agents, lecithin and sugar (or sugar substitutes) are indispensable components in fodder preparation, especially in many concentrated feeds and high starch fodders. In addition, the need for dietetic feeds with sugar substitutes is growing higher especially in pet keeping.
Thus, it is the object of the invention to provide a base material which overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. In particular, it is intended that no segregation of individual components occurs in this base material, it is to be readily dosed and processed, and it is to be suitable for combination with most of the usual foods or food components, or form a base for foods. The latter also applies to fodders instead of foods.